Judge to NYC public school students: No cell phones for you!

An appeals court has upheld the 2005 law banning cell phone possession in New …

Kids in New York City's public schools will have to continue doing without their cell phones. Yesterday, New York Supreme Court Judge Angela Mazzarelli denied an attempt to overturn a ban on communication devices in public schools. While she was sympathetic to the plight of concerned parents, the benefits to the ban clearly outweigh the negatives. Parents upset by the ban plan to appeal her ruling.

The 2005 ban came as part of a Disciplinary Code revision, which identified various infractions like bringing prohibited items to school. Included in that list of prohibited items are cell phones, pagers, and other communication devices--all prohibited unless a parent is able to secure permission from the school due to a student's medical requirements. At the time, lawmakers argued that the ban would help cut down on cheating, distractions, and insubordination (among other things), since students were previously using their devices to communicate during tests, not pay attention during class, and otherwise act like a bunch of kids with cell phones in school. Overall, it was an attempt to maintain "order and discipline" during school hours.

Perhaps surprisingly (to some of us, anyway), the kids weren't the only ones to react negatively to the controversial ban. Parents were outraged that their kids could no longer contact them whenever they wanted throughout the day. I'm not a parent, but I have plenty of friends who are that absolutely insist on their kids having access to a cell phone once they're old enough. In a world where we are conditioned to fear terrorist attacks and school shootings at any moment, it's understandable that concerned family members would balk at the ban.

Thousands of parents petitioned to have the ban overturned, asking that cell phone use be prohibited but possession of the devices to be allowed in case of emergency. Many argued that their kids had to commute on public transportation and through various parts of the city in order to get to and from school, and that a cell phone was essential to their safety during those times. Some parents even complained that if their kids had access to a cell phone, they could have called for help when being bullied by other children at school.

Mazzarelli wrote in her opinion that she sympathizes with these parents, but pointed out several other rulings that shot down their arguments. One court noted that cell phones had only begun to be widely adopted (what ever did they do before?), and that parents and children had adapted their behavior to be dependent upon them, for example. Mazzarelli also noted that the ban does not infringe on parents' constitutional right to care for their children, because "the right is not absolute and is only afforded constitutional protection in 'appropriate cases.'"

She noted that cell phones have been used for cheating, sexual harassment, prank calls, and intimidation, and that all of these things threaten order during school hours. She also rejected the suggestion that kids be able to carry cell phones but not use them, pointing out that even adults cannot be trusted to turn their phones off (or on silent) during movies and cultural events. "While the vast majority of public school children are respectful and well-behaved, it was not unreasonable for the Chancellor to recognize that if adults cannot be fully trusted to practice proper cell phone etiquette, then neither can children," she wrote.

The decision is yet another blow against the (almost) three-year-long fight to have the ban overturned. But, as some of us know, angry parents are a force to be reckoned with, and they don't plan to back down anytime soon. Some parents told the New York Daily News that they might take the case to New York's highest court. "We strongly believe that the Department of Education's prohibition on the possession of cell phones in schools is unconstitutional and illegal," attorney Norman Siegel said.

Further reading:

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui